- Rescue workers were struggling last night to reach the
epicentre of the Iranian earthquake as hopes faded of finding many more
people alive under the rubble that was the city of Bam.
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- With survivors facing their second night outdoors in
sub-zero temperatures, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami described Friday's
dawn earthquake as a "national tragedy" and said it was too huge
for Iran to cope with alone. Yet even with an estimated 40,000 dead and
many more injured, the Iranian government refused an offer of help from
Israel.
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- Although rescue workers and equipment have flooded into
south-east Iran since the earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale,
hit the city early on Friday, attempts to reach the disaster scene have
been frustrated by transport difficulties and blocked roads.
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- As darkness fell last night survivors were still digging
for their loved ones with their bare hands as the bodies of the dead lay
stacked by the side of the road.
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- John Holland, operations director of the 20-strong Rapid-UK
search and rescue party, said his team had been working non-stop in the
24 hours since they arrived at the scene of the disaster.
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- Holland said the team had checked a total of 18 buildings
so far in a bid to locate survivors, but had found none. He said the earthquake
had almost completely destroyed Bam, leaving only a few badly damaged buildings
standing.
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- Speaking from the team's makeshift base on a football
pitch in the heart of the city, Holland admitted that the chances of finding
anyone alive were now remote. "We have not found any survivors - but
we have found quite a few bodies. In this type of situation the chances
of finding someone alive are quite low, to be honest. As more time goes
on, obviously the chances dramatically lower."
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- Roads leading to the city have become jammed with emergency
vehicles and people travelling to find missing relatives.
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- Those who made it to the city were met with scenes of
utter devastation. "There is not a standing building in the city.
Bam has turned into a wasteland," said Iranian interior minister Abdolvahed
Mousavi Lari. The ancient citadel that was the centrepiece of the old town
and the main attraction of Bam's tourism industry is completely destroyed.
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- Yesterday, few survivors were pulled from the rubble,
and estimates of the injured reached 50,000.
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- Hundreds of bodies have already tipped into trenches
hollowed out by mechanical diggers. Cemeteries were crammed to overflowing
with fully clothed corpses and the stench of death was beginning to pervade
the streets. Hospitals in the nearest city, Kerman, were overwhelmed and
had to turn away the wounded. Iranian military planes have been mobilised
to evacuate the wounded from the earthquake-hit zone to hospitals in Tehran
and other cities.
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- Graham Payne, director of Rapid-UK, said volunteers in
Iran faced the risks of aftershocks and of epidemic disease from the unburied
corpses. "It's a horrendous scene. Up to half the city's population
is dead, including many of the fire and ambulance workers. Most of the
emergency equipment has also been destroyed . It is very hard for the rescuers
to know where to begin."
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- Health minister Ahmed Pezeshkin has appealed for medicine
and equipment. He said more foreign volunteers were not needed, because
Iran was having trouble co-ordinating its efforts. Iran needed mobile X-ray
machines and ventilators more than people, he said.
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- Water, electricity and gas supplies have been cut, and
people lit fires in the street to keep warm as temperatures plummeted overnight.
The International Red Cross has launched an appeal for $12.3 million.
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- President Bush, who earlier bran ded Iran part of an
"axis of evil", said the US was ready to send aid. The European
Union has pledged almost a million dollars. Britain immediately donated
£150,000 to buy blankets and plastic sheeting locally and sent a
rescue mission to the area early on Saturday morning. The group included
seven Scottish volunteers from the International Rescue Corps base in Grangemouth
with medical and rescue experience.
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- Copyright © 2003 smg sunday newspapers ltd.
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- http://www.sundayherald.com/38973
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